Monticello Park Master Plan Meeting to be Rescheduled

For the second time, the public information meeting discussing the
development of a park master plan for Monticello Park was cancelled due
to weather. When a new date is set, we will make the community
aware.

The meeting will feature a presentation describing the site’s existing
conditions, potential future uses and the park master planning process.
One potential future use already proposed, is a dog park.
A public discussion will follow the staff presentation in an effort to
identify community concerns, answer questions and receive suggestions for
future park uses. If you are interested in learning more, please visit http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/plandev/monticello.htm.

If you are unable to attend, comments can be sent to
Parkmail@fairfaxcounty.gov or Braddock@fairfaxcounty.gov.

Spring Seedling Sale Scheduled

The Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District has begun its
annual sale to provide an inexpensive source of seedlings to Fairfax
County residents. All seedlings are native to Northern Virginia.

Two packages are available: one features deer resistant shrubs and small
trees, offered at $15.95 and includes red osier dogwood, silky dogwood,
serviceberry, spicebush and pawpaw. Another offers a black oak, sycamore
and American hornbeam, and is available for $10.95.

The order form is available at http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/nvswcd
or in the Braddock office. Specific questions can be addressed to
Nicholas.Kokales@fairfaxcounty.gov. Proceeds from this sale help to
support educational programs sponsored by the District, including stream
monitoring, Envirothon, and storm drain marking. All payments must be
received by Monday, April 11 and may be picked up on April 15. Pictures
of the mature species offered in the packages are on the website.

The Fairfax County Solid Waste Management Program has turned the
ignition on its first hydraulic hybrid trash and recycling collection
vehicle serving Fairfax County residents in established sanitary
districts. The trash truck is the commonwealth’s first to utilize a
hydraulic hybrid assist system. The County utilized $35,000 in federal
grant funding to purchase this system that is estimated to save up to 6
percent in fuel and maintenance costs.

Trash trucks stop and start up to 800 times per day collecting waste or
recyclables from residential homes. The new hydraulic hybrid system
utilizes a hydraulic pump installed along the truck’s drive shaft that
will aid in slowing the vehicle’s forward movement while gaining a charge
to be used to assist with the vehicle’s acceleration. In addition to cost
savings, this new system will also provide environmental benefits through
reduced fuel consumption, emissions and generation of heat from the
braking process.

“It has long been our priority to promote environmental stewardship
throughout Fairfax County, not just ‘make the trash go away,’” said Jeff
Smithberger, director of the Division of Solid Waste Collection and
Recycling. “Part of our strategic process incorporates looking at the
feasibility of new technologies and innovations that can help us perform
our work at a high level and in a cost-efficient manner while minimizing
the impact on our local environment.”

For the past two years, Fairfax County’s trash and recycling collection
vehicles have been equipped with a regeneration system aimed at reducing
the vehicle’s carbon footprint. This system captures carbon and soot
particles, causing the truck to run cleaner than it’s traditional
counterpart. The Fairfax County Solid Waste Management Program provides
collection service to county facilities, 45,000 county residents in
established sanitary districts and to provide debris removal in times of
emergency